3 ways video is supporting education hiring


Why not embrace the future today and get in front of your competition by utilizing video interviews?

video-education-hiringTechnology is becoming an ever-more important part of our everyday lives, and it’s certainly taking on added importance in the classroom. So why aren’t more employers and school administrators embracing technology when it comes time to hire great teaching talent?

While two-thirds of teachers want more classroom technology, those in charge of hiring are missing out on great tech hiring tools. Why do we push technology in the classroom, but not in the recruitment process?

Currently six out of 10 employers are using video interviews to connect with great talent, shorten the process, and sail over the skills gap. Video interviewing could present a solution to some of the most pressing problems facing the education industry.

Here are three reasons video interviewing might just be the future of education recruitment:

(Next page: 3 ways video can and will change the future of education recruitment)

1. Shorten the recruitment process

The traditional recruitment process, whether you’re looking for an administrative position or a top-notch teacher, can be brutally long. Besides all the red tape to cut through and all the approvals you’ll need, the odds are high you’ll be dealing with a massive talent pool. In the business world, every corporate job opening equates to about 250 resumes flooding into inboxes.

Education hiring could be even more difficult, especially if the position you’re looking to fill is an elementary school teacher. America is currently training twice as many K-5 elementary school teachers than are needed. This means, for every opening, the chances are high you’ll be flooded with highly qualified candidates.

The one-way video interview presents a solution, allowing you to quickly weed through top talent without forgoing the personal connection needed to ensure a candidate will be the right fit for your institution’s culture. In a one-way video interview, candidates answer your questions in short video answers, which can then be viewed at any time and for any duration. If you know someone is all wrong for the job, you can quickly move on to a better fitting candidate.

Research from the Aberdeen Group has shown it’s possible to watch 10 one-way video interviews in the time it takes to complete just one phone screen. This means you’re saving the time you might waste on the wrong candidates and using this time to connect with the right people.

2. Find better-fitting teachers

The video interview can also help you jump the skills gap and hire better fitting teachers. Instead of a phone conversation or a cursory glance at a resume, you can instead watch a candidate answer questions and judge communication skills, patience, enthusiasm, and cultural fit.

The live video interview, however, has the power to address another of the big challenges currently facing the education industry: the skills gap. While there is a deep talent pool when it comes to elementary school teachers, the pool gets decidedly shallow when searching for STEM teachers. Although there are plans in place to cultivate an additional 10,000 STEM teachers, it won’t be enough to make up for the approximately 25,000 STEM teachers lost per year.

Finding the right talent for your open STEM positions will likely not be very easy, but video interviewing can help. By smashing geographic boundaries, you can now recruit talent from anywhere and connect in real-time with a live video interview. It doesn’t matter if the right candidate lives around the corner or around the world, you can still talk face-to-face in an interview setting without having to spend big on flights and hotels. This allows you to fish in a wider pool and hopefully reel in the STEM talent you need.

3. Attract tech-savvy candidates

As we’ve mentioned, technology is becoming an increasingly important part of classroom experience. A recent survey found 74 percent of teachers felt technology in the classroom was a student motivator. One of the reasons STEM teachers are so in demand is because technology is encroaching on just about every aspect of daily life, and students now need a certain amount of tech-savvy to thrive.

Utilizing video interviews to hire helps with two important technology goals. First, it is likely to attract the kind of tech-savvy candidates your institution is looking for. If candidates can see your organization is embracing technology as early as the hiring process, you’ve set yourself apart and shown your willingness to utilize cutting-edge tools.

Secondly, the video interview can be a good test of a candidate’s technical ability. While video interviews are relatively easy, if a candidate can’t figure out how to point their webcam in the right direction for an interview, they’re probably not the right person for your tech-heavy classrooms.

The future of education hiring will involve new technology and tech tools in order to snag the best candidates. So why not embrace the future today and get in front of your competition by utilizing video interviews?

What do you think? Would you use video interviewing to hire? Share in the comments!

Josh Tolan is the CEO of Spark Hire, a video interview solution used by more than 2,000 companies across the globe. Learn more about using video interviewing for education hiring and connect with Spark Hire on Facebook and Twitter.

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